Market forces appear best parking regulator

Though parking in Manoa Valley is free for now, residents' efforts could jeopardize university students' ability to obtain free parking in the future.

At the moment, parking space is governed by "market forces." Whoever gets there first gets the parking. If a student wants free parking so much and is willing to get up at 5 a.m., they deserve to keep the $3.

Parking permits, however, would foul this system. Any student lucky enough to obtain a permit, even if they only had a 10:30 class, would be guaranteed a parking space.

So while the unfortunate student with earlier classes parks farther away and does a second commute by bus, this person slides in and out of his or her parking space easily.

This is very unfair -- the student who works harder deserves the parking space more than the student who does only the minimum.

With parking permits, government gets involved in a situation best left alone, and opens the door for a lot of bitterness between students and Manoa residents.